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2017 Annual Fundraiser in support of the "Little School"

And in Spanish ....

Our Lady of Guadalupe Schoolis a parochial elementary school supported by the parish by providing funds for the salaries of the eleven teachers. Thanks to your generosity, the school opened its doors in January, 2002. Approximately 225 children attend school and their parents are extremely grateful to have this opportunity for their children.

New committe members are always welcome! Email Steve Dalhoff for more information: sdalhoff@prodigy.net

This is the third St.Ignatius mission trip to Our Lady of Guadalupe school in Chiche Guatemala. On this trip 14 missioners(including Father John Devlin- Legionaries of Christ) visited the "Little School"and the parish of Santo Tomas in Chiche, Guatemala in order to share our faith and solidarity with the parents , teachers and children of the community. All the people welcomed us with open hearts, they were very kind and extremely grateful for all the support that St. Ignatius gives every year to the "Little School". Words cannot express their gratitude, During our visit, we prayed together, shared our faith, ate together and had fun in various activities. It was refreshing to see how the school has progressed over the years, the Teachers are very dedicated , the parents very active in the school and its programs , and the children are attentive, very disciplined and eager to learn.

This mission experience was truly special for all of us, everyday we encountered Christ in the people that we met. I felt that although we went to minister them , they ministered to us alot more. We came back home with great memories and a stronger faith. On our departure a young 5th grader gave me a letter to share with you all :

Hi, good day to all of you, I gave this letter to Tony so that he can translate it to English , since I don't speak English. In this letter I want to thank you all for all that you have done for the children of parochial school. Thank you for all your material and spiritual assistance. Thank you for guiding us to the way of the Lord, you don't know how much I admire you, you are a great example for me to follow. Since I came to the parochial school , you always show up to help us , we really appreciate you for all that, thank you all , you are like angels for me and for all the children of the parochial school. Ever since I have known you , my life has changed for the better, I am very thankful to God for having put you in my life. Thank you for everything, Wendy"

I hope one day you can go to a St. Ignatius mission trip to Guatemala so that you can experience God's love via this beautiful people.

VISIT TO ST TOMAS - JULY 2010 By Steve Dalhoff, Committee Member

While on a faith-sharing mission trip with Sending Out Servants during the last week in June, God gave me the opportunity to visit Chiché, the home of our "little school" and celebrate Saturday night Mass with the Maya at Saint Tomas Church. The Mass was a children's Mass, which is celebrated once a month, but this time it was an even bigger occasion. The church was packed. Fr. Mateo and the parish honored St. Ignatius for our loving support of our "little school," Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Our Missionary Outreach Committee co-chair, Tony Rodriguez, was expected to be present, but due to the passing of Tony's mother and Tony's resulting inability to attend, I became the envoy for our committee and our parish, with the loving assistance of fellow parishioner and translator Leo Mejia. It was also a night where all of the town teachers and the principal of the “little school” were honored (teacher’s day in Guatemala).

The love and appreciation was not only voiced by the school committee president, but by the children as well, as they even arranged a special song written just for St. Ignatius. At the end of Mass, the president thanked us for our continued support of both financial aid and prayers, and I witnessed the fruits of our commitment through the reverent involvement of the children during Mass. The children were well versed in all that they did, from the processing into the church to the readings and all of the hymns. Other than the actions of Fr. Mateo as priest, the children performed all of the lay functions with deep reverence. One could readily witness the faith these children and teachers had obtained being a part of the only parochial school in the Quiché province —a part of which our parish of St. Ignatius could be genuinely proud. The president of the school committee asked for our continued support and prayers, as we continue forward with this project that started some eight years ago. With Leo's urging, I was given a chance to speak to the congregation, and assured them that we would follow God's will in whatever God held for the future of the “little school” project.

I was met after Mass by a former school principal who presented our parish with a cloth that she had personally made as a thank you to us.

Also, after mass, we had a meeting with the school committee, Father Mateo and a group of school parents for about 45 minutes. The committee presented to us their annual financial report and an outside auditor’s report that they hired when Fe y Alegría left the school. The parents shared with us some of their small projects that they put in practice to help the school financially.

While driving back to Santa Cruz that evening, I felt a deep admiration for our parish, and filled in me a love for the Maya of that community that I will never forget.

GRADUATION - OCTOBER 2008

By Ruth & Bob Kleeman, Committee Members

We have been members of the Mission Outreach Committee since its inception in 2001 and had the pleasure of visiting Our Lady of Guadalupe School in Chiche for graduation. This year’s graduating class marked the graduation of those students who started their schooling in kindergarten and they received their elementary education at the parochial school.The school year was completed in mid October and graduation festivities were held on Tuesday, October 28.

The entire day was one of celebrations, starting with Mass celebrated by Bishop Molina, along with Father Mateo and Father Sebastian, the respective present and former pastors of the parish.During the meal after the Mass, Bishop Molina emphasized the importance of Catholic education and encouraged our parish to continue in its mission of education of the poor. Graduation ceremonies took place in the afternoon for both the little ones from kindergarten and the sixth grade graduates.Following the ceremonies all of the graduates, their families and teaching staff attended a special dinner held in the patio area of the church.

We spent a total of six days in the community and had a full agenda of visits and activities.Some of these included visiting the sick in their homes with Father Mateo for the reception of the Sacraments; attending and participating in prayer services for the deceased, which were also held in the homes; visiting the teachers at the school during their end of school year responsibilities; attending funeral services of two young men, who met their death in Guatemala City; going the cemetery and helping a local family decorate their family’s grave site for thecelebration of All Saints’ Day, called “Day of the Dead”.

Some of the things that impressed us were the hospitality of the people and how much they appreciate the support of St. Ignatius parishioners, which enables their children to attend school.Additionally, the opportunity to participate in the lives of the people, to visit them in their homes and to pray with them is very special and meaningful.We are awed by the spirituality of the Mayan, or indigenous, people – it seems like they have a “direct line” to God.

In reflecting on the trip, we feel that what we experienced is similar to a retreat – leaving our own environment, participating in different way of life, eating different foods and being in beautiful surroundings and interacting with holy people.The entire experience causes us to reflect about our lives.We feel that we were very fortunate to have the opportunity to go to Chiche to visit with the people, renew friendships, and attend the graduations festivities.Hopefully, we will be able to visit again.